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Christopher Rouse (b. 1949)
Introduction Born in '''Baltimore Maryland''', he was at first attracted to the early popular music of the 50's with '''Little Richard''' and '''Chuck Berry''' but also was intrigued by '''Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf"''', written in 1936, which was already perhaps the most popular piece of Classical work at that time with numerous versions on record. Starting out as a Rock drummer, upon enrolling in '''Oberlin Conservatory''', received a degree in Composition in 1971 and went on the post graduate work until getting his Doctorate of Musical Art from '''Cornell''' in 1977. In 1982, while teaching, he was commissioned to write something for the '''Boston Musica Viva'''. He has continued teaching and adds to his already large number of Concertos and Symphonic works that have been played by every major symphony across the globe Work Analysis '''Rouse''' noticed that many of his contemporaries were writing in an Adagio style and decided to go the opposite route and write much of his music in fast tempi or Vivace. His piece '''"Gorgon" (1984)''', is four fast movements of dense, turgid, dramatically prepared and played atonal music that is relentless as it is breathtaking in sheer loudness! (one funny anecdote is that one orchestra playing his music called in OSHA because orchestra members thought the volume level was too loud and, therefore, unsafe!). However, he is also quite capable of writing beautifully melodic and light pieces interwoven within the context of the heavier material, such as in his '''"Symphony No. 1"''' from 1986. Comparisons In his '''"Symphony No. 1" (1986)''', he quotes both '''Bruckner '''and''' Shostakovich.''' '''Weber, Berlioz''' and most obviously '''Wagner''' certainly play a part in informing his style of composing. In the Oboe concerto, there are little hints of '''Prokofiev''' via "'''Peter and the Wolf"'''. He also quotes, '''''[http://www.bruceduffie.com/rouse.html "To me, the issue of dissonance has nothing to do with the issue of expressivity; that somehow one can only get back to expressing something if one re-embraces tonality. That doesn’t seem to follow. Again, using the example of Berg, I can think of no composer whose music is so filled with very profound, emotive content, and yet it’s also music with a very high dissonance level. So the notion that these two things are completely opposite I think is wrong."]''''' Observations There is a brutality to his work that brings to mind perhaps, thoughts of what one might consider to be Horror movie music. His themes do indeed deal with ideas of death and mythology, though within his oeuvre is a playful side as he clearly is still a fan of Rock and Roll. His percussion piece '''"Bonham"''' is a love letter to '''Led Zeppelin''' drummer '''John Bonham''' and seeks to convey the thunder of his playing. Also his "Oboe Concerto" ( brings an almost pastoral quality, to his work, which might be due to the sound of the instrument itself. Perhaps he was playing to that while pushing the boundaries of what that instrument has not been allowed to do necessarily. Works Cited http://www.christopherrouse.com/biography.html http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/faculty/rouse/ http://www.bruceduffie.com/rouse.html http://www.allmusic.com/artist/christopher-rouse-mn0000271963/biography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Rouse_(composer)